CERTIFIED THIEF

OPERA NEWS

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    Naomi hissed, cut the call and turned off the phone. Cameron became infuriated by Naomi’s actions. When he questioned her, she said she didn’t know who the caller was, so she wouldn’t pick the call. Right from the outset, Naomi never picked strange calls, so it was her priority. As Cameron kept pleading with Naomi to turn on her phone, Sophie collected the phone from Naomi gently. She pressed a long button on the right side of the phone and light displayed on the phone’s screen. When Sophie had succeeded in boosting the phone, she saw three missed calls notifications. “Mum, you've missed three calls.” She hadn’t finished her words before the phone rang again. Sophie quickly swiped the phone's screen and picked up the call. She cleared her throat and started speaking with the caller. As she spoke with the caller, everyone remained silent and tried to eavesdrop on her conversation. It wasn’t new to them that Sophie was speaking to Miles. As soon as she dropped the call, Cameron questioned her. “What did he say?” he said.

“He said there wasn’t any ray of hope that Maverick would come to Colorado today,” Sophie said grimly.

    These words dropped on everyone like a bombshell. They never knew whether they were to cry or to laugh because the issue was now getting out of hand. As they wondered what could have happened to Maverick, Naomi broke the silence. She said she felt everything wasn’t well with Maverick. She gazed at the ladies one after the other, hoping that they would talk, but none of them said a word. Naomi compromised. She picked up her phone and sauntered in the direction of her room.

    It was the third day that Maverick had been missing and there wasn’t any greenlight that he would be found anytime soon. Cameron walked into the sitting room and saw Sophie. She bowed her head as she was sitting on the couch. Cameron moved closer to her and touched her on the back. “You can’t continue to sit here all day. You were sitting here before I left home in the morning,” he said, and his eyes caught the tears that fell from Sophie’s eyes. Sophie raised her head slowly. Her eyes were more red than a blacksmith's iron. She cleaned her face with the handkerchief she picked from the floor and tried to talk, but she couldn’t.

“You see what I am saying. If you continue to sit here and weep all day, you will be doing great harm to yourself. By the way, why is the house silent? Where are your mum and the rest?”

“They are in their rooms, dad…”

“I’m sure of the voice I heard. Welcome, sir,” Naomi interrupted.

“So you were at home and you couldn’t pacify your daughter?” 

“You don’t have to blame me. I tried, but she was obstinate. Thank God you are around. She should listen to you.” Naomi shrugged and sat down on a vacant couch.

“It’s alright. I am thirsty. Please, get me a cupful of water,” Cameron said and yawned. Naomi nodded her head and walked away. She came back clutching a mug with her right hand. She handed the mug to Cameron and walked back to her seat. As Cameron sipped the chilled water, he told them everything that happened in Milo’s house.

    Both mother and daughter were silent until Cameron told them that the president was aware of the missing groom.

“The same David Mark?” Naomi said.

“Yeah. He was very sad that the wedding ceremony was postponed. However, he vowed that Maverick would be rescued.

“That’s too kind of him. I hope you can hear your father? The president has stepped into the case. So, cheer up!” Naomi said and gazed at Sophie’s face. Sophie was unperturbed by Naomi’s words, she frowned instead.

“C’mon, Sophie. You are not the only one affected by the issue on ground. Everyone is affected and you should get that into your bony skull,” Naomi said sternly.

“Just leave her alone, woman. She will probably come around. Have you cooked?” Cameron said as he gulped the little water left in his mug.

“It’s alright. Your food is inside the oven.”

“Come serve me. I am famished.” 

    Miles was glancing through his phone when he saw the opera news notification. He clicked on the notification and read out the headline. As soon as he gathered some information from the news, he picked up his hat and left the marquee. When he got to the sitting room, he saw Milo. He was devastated and was looking straight in the direction of the ceiling. He had been carried in a deep thought before he heard Miles’ voice. “Is anything the problem?” he said.

“Just have a gaze at this, dad,” Miles said, and handed the phone to Milo. Milo picked up his pair of eyeglasses and stuck them to his face. He caught the headlines on the news and became interested in the news. As he read the news, he glimpsed Miles from time to time as if he was a broadcaster. His motive was to see Miles’ reaction. Miles never said a word, he only raised his eyebrows.

“We will ensure the culprits are brought into book,” Milo read out loudly and took his gaze off the phone. He gazed at Miles. Miles caught the sensation and shook his head. 

“What do you think, dad?” Miles said and sat down beside Milo on the couch.

“Well, I am flabbergasted. I never knew the president would go this far,” Milo said and coughed.

“I knew he was going to do this. Let’s just hope Maverick will return,” Miles said, and collected his phone gently from Milo.

“I will be forever indebted to the president if my son comes back home,” Milo said and tears fell down his face.

“Dad, you are an aged man. Tears will really affect you. I hope you have taken your tea?”

“No. I am not famished.”

“You are a health worker and you know the repercussions of every action. Charlie! Charlie!!”

    Charlie answered her name from the kitchen. She ran in the direction of the door. “How may I help you, sir?” she said when she got into the sitting room. She wondered what Miles and Milo might have been discussing that made Milo's eyes red.

“You should have told me that dad rejected his food,” Miles said.

“I am sorry, sir. You were under the marquee, so I didn’t want to disturb your leisure time.”

“It’s alright. I hope the tea is still hot?”

“Yes, sir. It’s inside the electric kettle.”

“That’s good. Go and set the table now.”

    Milo stood up from the couch as soon as he heard the sound of the siren. He wondered what the van was doing close to his duplex. As the US policemen were alighting from the van, Milo dropped the flowered curtain and walked in the direction of the couch. He sat down and held the newspapers he was clutching previously. When he heard the knocks emanating from the door, he called out to Charlie. Charlie hopped into the living room and sauntered in the direction of the door. She pulled the door gently and it went open. To her uttermost dismay, she saw three armed policemen in uniforms.